Endings and Beginnings
by Rebecca B Bush
Summary: Just wanted people to know that I have the nest four chapters written, but I'm not sure when they'll be typed up. Keep looking for the updates. Sorry this has taken so long!!
1. All things must come to an end

Title: Endings and Beginnings

Rating: PG-13

Spoilers: Not that I'm aware of…

Disclaimer: Okay, everyone knows that we don't own 'em. We just like to borrow them from time to time.

Author's Note: This is my first venture into FanFiction, so I need everyone to R&R. I have the second chapter, "For Every Ending there is a Beginning" written, but I want to wait and see what people think. Be nice, be mean, but be HONEST!!

Chapter 1 – All things must come to an end…

"Mark? Are you okay" Elizabeth inquired through the door. "Do you need any help?"

It had been two months since he had decided to stop the chemo. He should've been dead by now, but by some miracle he was still living and breathing. "Lucky bastard," he said to his reflection in the mirror, which grinned toothily back at him, like a secret friendship. Mark had come to understand every nuance, every move his body made, so that when he started to lose it, he'd know. But so far that hadn't happened.

"Mark? Mark!" Elizabeth began to pound furiously on the door, bringing the former Doctor Greene back to reality. He opened the door, still smiling.

"I'm fine Elizabeth, really. Just got caught up in there, that's all," he said as he kissed her on the cheek and walked down the hallway.

Elizabeth watched him as he walked away. The thing of it was, he WAS fine. She had been so baffled by his non-sickness. As Mark had just been thinking, she too was contemplating that by all rights he shouldn't be alive, let alone functioning. But, there was still the element of doubt that his tumor left her with…she didn't think she'd have advance notice of his passing, and maybe that was for the best.

Shaking away the unpleasant thoughts, Elizabeth said a quick prayer of thanks and followed after Mark down the stairs, where she could hear Ella cooing happily at her sister, Rachel.

Meanwhile, at County General, things were slow and Dr. John Carter found himself in the doctor's lounge, mulling over the last couple of months.

_You set the tone, Carter_.

Those had been Dr. Greene's parting words to him that fateful day. It hadn't taken Carter long to understand what that meant, and he hadn't felt such pride ever in his life. This was something that the Carter name hadn't bought for him…this was his by rights. Dr. Greene was handing him the reigns of the ER, even though Kerry outranked him.

The other doctors and nurses seem to notice it, too. They began to treat him with the same respect they had shown Dr. Greene. He still got teased a lot and they all still played their games, but when it came to medicine, they looked to him. Even Kerry Weaver had started acting differently towards him.

"Carter? Get out here, NOW! MVA pulling up. Stop lollygagging!"

Carter grinned to himself as the door slammed shut behind Dr. Weaver. She hadn't changed THAT much…

Four hours later Carter's shift ended. He chucked the last of his charts and did a double check of the board. Dr. Kovac was on tonight, as well as Susan Lewis, and he had no doubt that the ER would be well taken care of. Carter, Luka, Susan, Abby and Gallant had become closer since their Saturday "bonding experience". Carter smiled again thinking of Abby when she said that – he and Kovac had nearly killed each other in a macho fencing duel. The five of them, however, had become very close friends afterward, and often went out together, played pranks in the ER together, to the point where the rest of the staff had started referring to them as the Five Amigos. Corny, yes, but it helped to fill the void that Carter had felt ever since Lucy's death. He no longer had problems or issues stemming from that event, and he really believed that while the four friends had helped him tremendously, he wouldn't be where he was at emotionally without Abby.

Speaking of Abby, Carter realized she should be back home after visiting her mother, Maggie, in Seattle. She was actually the first to realize Mark was leaving that night, and it had really affected her. She had finally let go of her demons and made peace with Maggie, forgiving her for the past. It had taken some emotional AA meetings and a lot of prayer for Abby and Carter to make that happen.

As if on cue, Carter's pager began to vibrate, and he saw that it was Abby's number. He smiled again, pulled out his cell phone and dialed her number.

"Carter"

"Is there any other?" Carter replied, laughing. "You know, it's the spookiest thing, because I was just thinking about you," he said.

Abby laughed, a deep rich laugh that Carter could never get tired of hearing. "I've told you before we're telepathetically connected," she said. "Listen, I've got a ton of take-out Chinese and a great chick flick here, all waiting for you to come over."

Carter smiled again. Chick flicks and take-out food had become a staple for the Five Amigos, especially he and Abby. It was looking like it was going to be a good evening. "Sounds good, Ab. Give me time to go home, shower, and change my clothes and then I'll be there." Carter hung up his phone and pulled his Jeep into the Chicago rush hour traffic. He cranked his stereo when he heard the song "With Arms Wide Open" start playing.

Mark shared an incredible evening with his "girls" as he referred to them. They had played some great games of Sorry with Rachel, and had a great time teaching Ella new words. Ever since she suddenly said Da-da, words were coming from her at a furious rate. Mark's favorite, aside from Da-da and Ma-ma, was Whale, Ella's version of her big sister's name. The family cackled whenever Ella said it.

But most incredible of all was what had transpired afterwards. He and Elizabeth did one last round of checking on the girls and when Elizabeth had closed Ella's door mark drew her into him, breathing in her clean scent that always seemed to be mingled with Ella's wonderful baby smell. He kissed her softly, and opened his eyes in surprise when Elizabeth responded back with a kiss that set his blood on fire. He looked into her eyes and saw the desire there that hadn't been around since Ella's birth and overdose.

"Oh Mark," she breathed, wrapping her arms around him. "I've missed you so much, missed this…" she trailed off as Mark kissed her again. He could feel himself responding to her touches and caresses.

"Let's go to the bedroom," he whispered softly. "I need – I want to make love to my wife."

It had been wonderful making love to Mark. Elizabeth looked fondly at her husband, now soundly asleep. They had done it twice, first fast and furious, as if they could not get enough of each other, and then soft and tender. Elizabeth had never felt love and desire as she had looking him as they moved together.

"I love you," she whispered softly as she kissed Mark on the forehead.

Carter and Abby giggled as they watched Abby's chick flick, Something About Mary. They were curled up together under a blanket on the couch, and Carter couldn't help but notice how terrific Abby felt next to him. Despite his promise to Susan the night they had broken up, he hadn't found the courage to tell Abby that he loved her. He'd come close on several occasions, but he always lost his nerve. He was still worried that Abby had feelings for Luka, and given Carter's track record with relationships, he didn't want to get hurt again.

"Carter? Paging Doctor Carter." Abby playfully jabbed him in the ribs. Carter responded by nailing her in the head with the pillow that he'd been using. A look of shock passed over Abby's face before she gleefully smacked him back with the same pillow. The force knocked Carter off the couch and he pulled Abby down with him, both of them laughing like little kids.

"Are you ticklish?" He asked Abby menacingly.

Abby was laughing too hard so she shook her head no, only to dissolve into a fit of giggles as Carter tickled her. Suddenly, Carter found himself on top of her, both of them still laughing and gasping for air, and he leaned down and kissed her.

The kiss took Abby by surprise but she was more than happy to return the favor. What started as a gentle kiss quickly turned into something passionate and hungry. They sat up and looked at each other before embracing and kissing again. The movie forgotten, Abby began to unbutton Carter's shirt. Carter stilled her hand for a moment.

"Are you okay with all this?" he asked as he crushed a strand of hair from her face.

Abby blinked. "I – I think so, John. I've wanted this for so long. I just didn't think it would ever happen."

Carter kissed her again, this time letting his tongue touch hers. The electricity between the two of them was amazing. Abby tugged at the last button on his shirt and pulled it off, leaning in to kiss his chest. Carter moved his hands from Abby's face slowly down to her neck, where he traced the inside of her collar with his fingers. He then leaned forward and let his lips caress her skin. He felt her shiver as he pulled her shirt over her head. He whistled softly in appreciation. He'd seen Abby undressed a couple of time, but here, right in front of him, this was different.

"Like what you see? Abby teased him, once again flashing that wonderful smile.

Carter nodded. "Yes, very much so".

Somewhere in between making love to Abby and falling asleep, Carter heard himself say "I love you, Abby". He was amazed, stunned and delighted to hear her reply "I love you, too. John."

Carter woke up early that morning with Abby sleeping curled up next to him, a small smile on her lips. Carter marveled at what had happened last night, and then again in the wee hours of the morning. Then he heard the incessant buzzing of his pager going off. Puzzled, as he was off today, he got up to check and see who was bothering him.

"Elizabeth? Is everything okay? He asked when she finally answered.

"No, John, it's not. Mark passed away sometime last night while he was sleeping."

Carter ran his hand through his hair, searching for words that wouldn't come.


	2. For every ending there is a beginning

Title: Endings and Beginnings

Chapter 2: For every ending there is a beginning

Rating: PG-13, maybe PG on this one

Spoilers: Not that I'm aware of…

Disclaimer: Okay, everyone knows that we don't own 'em. We just like to borrow them from time to time.

Author's Note: Okay, here's chapter 2. Hope you like it, even though it's short…

Two days later Carter found himself working in the ER, where he performed his duties like a robot. His emotions still hadn't caught up with him yet, and he wasn't sure how the rest of the staff was taking it. The only thing that really kept him going and gave him comfort was thinking about his new relationship with Abby.

Abby. Mark's death seemed to have affected her more than anyone. Carter knew that a lot of that had to do with the events surrounding Maggie. When Maggie had returned to Chicago yet again, things were going okay, but it was clear that Maggie was close to a breakdown again. Mark had called Doug Ross, an old friend and former County doctor in Seattle, who had suggested that Maggie come to Seattle. The hospital that Doug worked at had a halfway house for people just like Maggie, headed by the most competent doctors in their field. Maggie had been wary of it at first, but somehow Mark had managed to talk her into going, and even offered to drive her there. They turned it into a little vacation. Five months later, Abby's mother was healthy and flourishing, and had even gotten a job at a beauty salon. Abby admired Doctor Green for taking time out of personal life, illness aside, to help her mother. But that was just the kind of guy he was.

Carter pondered what had transpired when he told Abby about Mark's death…

"Carter?" Abby murmured sleepily as he hung up the phone.

Once again, Carter had stumbled, looking for the right words, any words, that wouldn't seem to come. Abby, realizing something was wrong, sat up in the bed. "Was that the hospital? She asked.

Carter shook his head. "Uh, no. That was, uh, that was Elizabeth. Abby, uh, I…" he trailed off.

"No. Please tell me he didn't – he's still alive, right? Abby asked desperately. Carter winced at the tears that began to well in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Abby. Doctor Green passed away sometime early this morning. Elizabeth is going to call back with details and everything." He sat down on the bed and pulled Abby close to him. "Shh…it's okay. Elizabeth said it was peaceful, and that he had shared a wonderful night with them."

"But he's gone…"

Carter shook himself out his reverie. He had a job to do. He couldn't let his emotions, or lack of emotions, get in the way of that. He joined the paramedics rolling the gurney down the hall to Trauma 2 and listened to them call the bullet. "…patient with severe hypothermia, LOC at site…"

Susan Lewis cried softly into her coffee cup. Elizabeth had called her that morning at the hospital – she had been on all night and had just been getting ready to leave. The news had shocked everyone. It's not fair, she thought angrily. I didn't have my time with him!

She sniffed, thinking about all the opportunities she'd had before to tell Mark how she felt about him, that she loved him. Well, she HAD told him, as the El was taking her away to Arizona. She smiled at memory…she had really believed that Mark would come running after her, like a scene out of a sappy romance movie.

He was the main reason she had come back, in all honesty. Yes, Chloe's moving did have a lot to do with it as well, but Susan had had 50 states at her disposal. She never imagined she'd come back to Chicago to find Mark married with a baby.

She was happy for him, though, and for Elizabeth. They seemed natural together, especially in the trauma room. Susan had to admit that she was a little jealous of their easy working ways.

Then there was sweet Carter. Who, while a man, still reminded her of the young resident who had gotten sick at his first trauma. The resident that her and Mark had played a mean nasty joke on and wrapped his leg up in a cast. He had hardened a bit over the last five years, and Susan had been shocked to learn how he was stabbed. Sitting by the pool at his Grandparents house, Susan had also learned of the subsequent drug addiction, and it was then that they had forged a new kind of friendship, after the two of them had admitted having crushes on each other. Then there was that Saturday Sex Ed class. They broke up after that, and had become even closer friends. And now, judging by all the looks, the secret touches, he and Abby had finally admitted their feelings for each other. It was the only bright spot Susan had this morning.

"Susan? Are you okay?

Susan's coffee spilled out as she jumped at the sound of Kerri Weaver's voice. "Oh, dammit…"

"Weren't you supposed to off an hour ago? You should be at home, I know how hard this has been on you," Kerri said sympathetically.

Susan nodded. "I just couldn't go home. I felt like I belonged here."

Kerry put her hand on Susan's shoulder as she left. "We're all going to miss him." Susan placed her hand on top of Kerry's and replied, "I know…I know"


End file.
